Hartlepool couple fined after failing to take down fence refused planning permission by Hartlepool Borough Council

The fence in Kesteven Road which was refused planning permission and led to legal action by Hartlepool Borough Council.

A couple have been fined by a court for failing to take down a fence from their house after it was refused planning permission.

Albert Barwick, 49, and Lisa Marie Barwick, 38, of Kesteven Road, were prosecuted by Hartlepool Borough Council for failing to comply with an enforcement notice over the timber boundary fence.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard the council issued the enforcement notice on December 14 last year after a retrospective planning application was refused.

The couple were given until February 21 to take it down and restore the land and boundary to how it was before the fence was put up.

But solicitor Tony Macnab, acting for the council, said it was still in place when an enforcement officer visited the address on March 28.

Mr Macnab said the council first received a complaint about the fence last June and advised the owners it needed planning permission.

But a subsequent application was refused by the council’s planning committee in November on the grounds it was unsympathetic and visually intrusive and would harm the character and appearance of the area.

Mr Macnab added: “In addition to the design, scale and siting of the boundary fence it had a detrimental effect on highway safety in particular with respect of vehicles egressing the driveway of the neighbouring property.”

The Barwicks did not attend court but admitted breaching the enforcement notice in an email to the court.

Magistrates fined them each £115 and ordered to pay £125 costs and a £34 surcharge within 28 days.

The couple declined to comment.